


Noise

by SaltySweetRen



Series: The Role Model [1]
Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: Family Drama, Gen, Idk what to tag this as, ambiguous disorder, this is just me venting
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-08
Updated: 2017-04-08
Packaged: 2018-10-16 05:53:00
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,392
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10564947
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SaltySweetRen/pseuds/SaltySweetRen
Summary: He throws himself into learning how to fight.But Riku's parents don't understand, all they see is two boys having fun doing a sport that they themselves know nothing about. It's a game that Riku plays with his friends, that's all. It should have no bearing on what he does with the rest of his life.





	

**Author's Note:**

> My therapist has been encouraging me to get back into writing recently. The problem is always the noise level in my home, and then I got the idea to write about Riku having issues with noisy, crowded places like I do. And then what was going to be a drabble about Riku turned into me venting about my own life.

He throws himself into learning how to fight.

 

He's looked up videos, he's imitated the moves, and even adapted things to his own style. And of course, he's always got Sora to practice with. When they were just kids, it was a fun hobby. But now?

 

Now it was a need.

 

He needed to fight, to become stronger. If anyone had ever asked, he would have told them it was so he could protect the things that matter. That much had always been true, even when he was little, but as he had grown it had changed, and he couldn't be sure when. There was more to it than just wanting to protect his friends.

 

It was a shame his parents dismissed his skills in sword fighting as nothing more than a hobby. They had seen him practice fighting with Sora, and they acknowledged that he had a lot of talent. But they said the same about Sora, even though the brunet explains to them that he's not as good as Riku, that his own footwork was sloppy and he didn't hold the sword right.

 

But Riku's parents don't understand, all they see is two boys having fun doing a sport that they themselves know nothing about. It's a game that Riku plays with his friends, that's all. It should have no bearing on what he does with the rest of his life.

 

His parents frown when he comes home too late during the evenings spending time out with his friends. This was a non-issue when he was younger, inexplicably, but as the family grew from three to five their warm greetings as he comes back inside turn to fretting over the fact that he's never around, that he needs to spend more time with the family. As if Riku doesn't get enough of that already.

 

His sister is always angry, and the screaming matches between her and their parents could have been passed off as pre-teen drama, if it weren't for the fact that it happened every day of every week, and made their little brother start to cry, and Riku would want to slam his palms over his ears and make it all stop. It never helps that in the middle of all this, his mom would look over and say that Riku is so polite and well-behaved, and thank you for not screaming Riku because you are such a good child, because his sister is no idiot and neither is Riku, and they both know exactly what she's doing that she herself is unaware of.

 

She bumps into Riku as she walks, telling him to snidely move out of the way. He knows better than to confront his sister about how she's doing it on purpose, because he did that once and the yelling match quickly became too much for him to deal with. She learns to pick the lock to his bedroom door and plops herself down on his bed, announcing that Riku can't kick her out, and if he ever tries to shove her out she'll cry and act like he was hurt and their parents will try to talk to Riku about how his hobbies might need to change. But at one point his parents do see her barge into his room, and Dad agrees that they need to change the kind of lock he has on his door.

 

She learns to pick that one too, and eventually their parents decide it's for the best, because now Riku can no longer hole himself away from the family and spend time with them all. If he tries to avoid the chaos that is his family by going up to his room, they will send her up to pick the lock and drag him downstairs again, and there's nothing he can do about it.

 

It's no use explaining it to them, either. They know he's close with Sora, and anyone who's met the brunet knows how much energy he has, how he's always loud and seems to have a bounce in his every movement. If Riku's always with someone like Sora, why does he have such an issue with the noise level at home?

 

But with Sora, it's different, because it's Sora, and Sora understands somehow. When he and Riku are together, it's always outdoors, where there's some way to escape, and even indoors, Sora will find some way for Riku to have that brief peace of mind he so desperately needs every now and then. He'll take longer grabbing snacks for the two of them than is needed, or he'll suggest they have a contest drawing something, and then the only noise will be the sound of pencils on paper. Even Sora could be quiet when he wanted to be.

 

There's a few nights when Riku's parents invite Sora or Kairi's families over, because they're Riku's friends, and of course the social norm is to invite the families of your kids' friends over for dinner when you can, to Riku's dismay. Sora's mom or Kairi's dad will take note of what a good friend Riku is to them, and comment on how Riku is such a good role model to the kids on the island. Without fail, Riku's parents will turn to him and ask why Riku doesn't show that side of himself at home, and he will shrug and duck his head without an answer.

 

He can't explain why home is so draining for him. He's not weak, not by a longshot, and his stamina has always been excellent, but every time he steps inside his own house, it feels like all the energy in his body has left him. He can barely muster up the energy to do his homework or even simple chores around the house, and it's only a matter of time before his grades take a huge dip, and his parents' disappointment in how he fails to do what is asked of him only makes him more reluctant.

 

His dad, at least, tries to get through to him, but most of the stuff he says, Riku can't quite wrap his head around. Not because he's unintelligent, but because even though his dad explains the entire thought process behind the idea, it's not usually an idea that Riku is happy with (Why should he have to choose between being happy, successful, or chasing his dreams? Why can't he have all of that?). Still, Riku is glad that his dad is trying, being the only person in the family who's not always causing a ruckus of some sort. In some ways, he and his dad are very similar, and it's something Riku respects.

 

And then one day, it all goes to hell.

 

Riku can never remember what exactly it was that caused the argument, just that it was something about how he spent so much of his time with Sora, but it made something inside of him snap, which happened on occasion, though he did have good control over his temper, but then his dad snapped too, and for once Mom and his sister were quiet, staring with open mouths and occasionally interjecting in surprise, as Riku and his father exchanged their harsh words, until his dad grabbed a chair and SLAMMED it down on the hardwood floor. Mom gasps, and his sister actually screams, and his little brother starts crying in the highchair, and Riku will never forget or forgive the words that came out of his father's mouth then.

 

"You're ungrateful!" Riku tried not to flinch at the words, simple and yet able to cut right through him. "We give you a warm house and food on the table, and you're selfish and lazy and ungrateful for everything we do! You're doing nothing with your life! There's some families out there who would kick out a child like you!"

 

He says more, but that much is all Riku needs to hear. His hands are shaking as he walks out the door, ignoring his father telling him to stop, he wasn't finished. Something cold has sunk its claws in Riku's heart, and Riku doesn't care. All he knows is that he needs to get out of there, out of their world entirely, anywhere but back to that house.

 

The next day, he tells Sora and Kairi about his idea to build the raft.


End file.
